Toxicdrugsclaim10morelivesinCoquitlam

KYLE BALZER kbalzer@tricitynews.com

The pace has slowed down for Coquitlam to match its record-breaking death toll by illicit drug overdoses in a single year: 34

But, sadly, the latest total is still too many lives lost.

The BC Coroners Service’s updated report showed 10 people died in Coquitlam from the unregulated drug supply in the first six months of 2023

That means two more people succumbed to toxic drugs between May and June after eight were tallied by the end of April, including three in that month and five between January and March Coquitlam’s year-todate number is among more than 1,200 deaths across B.C. including 184 in June.

Fentanyl is still the main factor contributing

MIKROMAN6/MOMENT/GETTY to the province’s public health crisis of the last seven years.

Two more people have died in Coquitlam from illicit drug overdoses.

“British Columbia is continuing to lose community members at record rates as a result of the toxicity of the unregulated drug market,” said chief coroner Lisa Lapointe in a statement on July 19

“This health emergency is not confined to one neighbourhood or one demographic. Anyone accessing an illicit substance is at risk of serious harm or death.”

Illicit drugs have claimed 86 lives in 2023 to date in the Fraser North health service delivery area, which includes Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody

An exact death toll in the Tri-Cities’ local health area is expected to be updated in August, according to the BC Coroners Service.

There were 18 illicit drug overdose deaths in the Tri-Cities between January and April 2023

In June, fentanyl accounted for more than 90 per cent of “expedited toxicological testing,” Lapointe added, with the highest number of deaths recorded in Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria this year.

Toxic drugs are claiming men’s lives 77 per cent of the time, as well as residents aged 30 to 59 at a 70 per cent rate

More than 12,500 people have died from toxic drugs in B C since the public health emergency was declared in April 2016.

“As coroners, we speak every day to families who are grieving the loss of a loved one,” Lapointe said.

“Our agency continues to recommend rapid expansion of a safer drug supply throughout the province to reduce the significant harms associated with the toxic illicit drug market and prevent future deaths.”

KYLE BALZER kbalzer@tricitynews.com

Rosa Rodriguez thought she only won $1,000 in a lottery jackpot earlier this month.

The Coquitlam resident admitted she was “too short” to see the machine, scanned her ticket once more and had to lean up to see the total

To her surprise, she counted three extra zeros in realizing she won $1 million from Lotto 6/49’s draw on July 8.

“I could not believe I just won a million dollars,” Rodriguez said in a release from the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC) on July 20

“Still shocked and floating in the air!”

Rodriguez said she purchased two tickets for the draw

The first was from London Drugs at Coquitlam Centre, which resulted in the seven-figure payday, and the second from a Chevron in Port Coquitlam, where she scanned both tickets

Rodriguez’s dreamcome-true moment is now helping her plan a trip to visit family in the Philippines, where she also plans to build a new home.

She said her winnings will also help her son and help fix up her home